Polar Bears :: essays papers

Polar Bears â€Å"Saving the White Beast† The Polar Bear males can measure up to nine feet long, and can weigh 770-1430 lbs. The fur of the Polar Bear covers their entire body except their nose and pads of their feet. The Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus) is the largest living carnivore on the planet earth. (National Parks Service). The polar bear lives in a small place on the top of the globe called the Arctic Circle. At an average the polar bears have about five million square miles of living space. The Polar ears have gotten close to 150 ft. from the North Pole. (WWF 1). These white creatures do not hibernate in the winter like other bears, instead they hunt. The bears main diet is the ringed and bearded seal. These bears have a great sense of smell. They can smell seals kilometers away, and detect one under three feet of snow. This helps them find the food they need during winter months when the seals migrate south to get warm. The bears are patient when it comes to food. They need two kilograms of fat a day to survive. A seal can provide five days worth of food. If the bears are starving they eat the whole seal; otherwise, they just eat the blubber and entrails for protein (National Parks Service). The bears live in Canada or above. They rarely go below Canada since it is too warm there. The giant bears have thick white fur, which helps the bear survive the cold, and it has a thick layer of blubber all around its body where it stores up food when needed. They can go with out food for 2 weeks if necessary (Larsen 7). Their fur is what helps retain the heat inside their bodies. The fur looks white but it is actually clear colored. The sun shines through the clear fur to the bear’s black skin, which absorbs the heat and retains it. Actually it does such a good job that the bears have to jump in icy water, and even roll in the snow to cool off. Fredtjoj Nansen gives this description of the polar bear, â€Å"Elegant body, big neck, small head, and short ears give it a ferocious look† (6). When its time for the bears to reproduce, the male approaches the female. The males have many mates in their lifetime. When the females are pregnant, they dig a den in which they stay until after pregnancy for a while with the bears can survive the cold.